Chapters All Quiet On The Equestrian Front
The garden was particularly lovely this time of day. The sun shone brightly, it's radiance giving life to the various botanical species below. All manner of plants inhabited the garden. They were acclimatized to Canterlot's heights by extensive application of magic and professional care. The gardeners who tended to these plants were appointed for life and certainly worked hard to make sure the Royal Garden remained one of the most glorious sights in Equestria to behold.
There were also many species of animals that lived on the grounds of the garden. They were the reason Twilight Sparkle, apprentice to none other than the co-ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, was spending her time there. The gardeners often imported exotic animals to accompany plants from their homelands. These creatures were often quite unique and had never before been seen in Equestria, Twilight had jumped on the chance to be the first one to study the newest batch from Saddle Arabia.
Said pony was currently sitting on her haunches under the cover of a shrubbery near the center of the garden, she wore a pith hat and held a notepad and quill in her lavender colored magic. She was currently staking out a particularly hard to find jackalope. It was said to be an extremely paranoid and shy creature, and so, without the assistance of her fateful animal expert, Fluttershy, she had to resort to hiding in an attempt to coax it out.
Silence reigned in her part of the garden, she had scheduled an appointment to close the grounds for several hours, enough time for her to study the creature in relative peace.
She had been sitting near motionless for more than thirty minutes when the creature finally showed itself, hopping along its merry way through the garden, oblivious to the pony now observing it. Twilight began scribbling frantically on her notepad, gathering such information as it's colour, fur, and even the length of its jumps, no information was too insignificant for the studious Twilight Sparkle.
Suddenly she felt a swift gust of air and a loud thud from behind her. The rabbit immediately bolted into the underbrush, disappearing from sight.
Groaning, she turned around to come face to face with a member of the Royal Guard, who were entrusted with guarding the Princesses of the Sun and Night. He was a Pegasus and appeared identical to all other members of the guard, thanks to the enchanted armor they wore. He bowed.
"Princess Twilight." He spoke with reverence, Twilight blushed, even though the rights of royal courtesy were afforded to her, as dictated by her horn and wings, signifying her ascension, she was still not used to being addressed as such.
"Uh... Hello, what do you need, Sir?" She responded with as much regal dignity as she could muster, which is to say, none whatsoever.
"Princess Celestia requests your presence at her personal chambers as soon as possible, I am to be your escort." He stated in a blunt, but professional manner. Twilight was immediately struck with concern. What could this mean? Did she do something wrong? She started thinking back to the decisions she'd made in the past few hours, none of which seemed to justify her mentor's wrath.
'Oh no! It was reserving the Royal Garden!' She thought. 'The Princess must have wanted to come out into the garden today. Now she's angry and she's going to renounce me as her prized pupil and then banish me to the moon, or-' Twilight's internal tangent was interrupted by the guard clearing his throat. She realized she'd been hyperventilating. She adopted a sheepish grin.
"A-alright, lead the way, Sir." The Pegasus guard nodded and took off into the sky without another word. Twilight pumped her wings and flew off after him. They had to fly very high up into the air, as Princess Celestia's chambers were in the tallest tower of the castle. As they climbed higher and higher over Canterlot, Princess Twilight observed the city, sometimes referred to as the most majestic city on Equus. Twilight, ever the historian, began to recall more and more of the ancient cities history as they rose.
More than one-thousand years ago, when the city was founded, the Princess had opted to build a small keep, surrounded by a high stone wall. This quickly overflowed with ponies, and so began one of the greatest construction projects in Equestrian history. An entire new quarter was erected. It eventually became known as the fashion sector, as it became home to the heart of Equestrian fashion, in the form of famous boutiques and residences of fashionistas.
Soon, however, this was not enough, as Canterlot reached its five-hundredth birthday two more quarters were constructed, one was now the heart of Equestrian culinary products, and the other became the major housing district. All the quarters were separated by thick stone walls, with several gates maintained and guarded to keep the flow through the city orderly. The wall to the outside of the keep was a work of structural perfection. Twenty meter high stone walls, at around three meters thickness, and magically reinforced, meant that even the most modern Equestrian siege cannons could not bring it down in even a hundred days of shelling. Twilight doubted that any weapon would ever be strong enough to pierce them, bar the magicks of the Princesses, of course. The outer wall had several towers and two massive gates to either edge of the great city, aptly named the Sun gate and Moon gate, respectively.
The keep the Princess had originally built had proven too small for the massive garrison required to keep order in the city, not to mention the Princesses growing palace staff and court. The original keep was now simply the entrance, to what was in Twilight's opinion, the greatest structure ever made. The Royal Palace towered over the rest of Canterlot. Built with several barracks capable of housing the entire city guard, and then some.
As a filly, Twilight had been constantly exploring the castle, during her adventures she would get lost quite often, only to be set back on a familiar path by a passing servant or guard. The palace also contained her two favorite places in the whole of Canterlot, the Royal Archives, which contained an endless sea of knowledge, which Twilight had happily spent most of her time in, and the place where Twilight was currently headed to. As Princess Celestia's personal student, Twilight had spent a great many nights by the fire inside the sun goddesses personal quarters. The room in question was know rapidly approaching as Twilight soared up and up towards the tower.
She slowed down and lightly landed on the balcony, her escort did the same a few seconds after. Seeing as the Princess had requested her presence immediately, she did not bother to knock as she stepped through the majestic and well-crafted stained glass doors of the balcony. She took a moment to enjoy the nostalgia and observed the room, it contained a fireplace with several cushions surrounding it, along with what seemed a pile of administrative paperwork Celestia hadn't gotten around to finishing.
She stepped further into the room, taking it all in, she hadn't been here in years, and now her old memories were coming back to her in full force. She considered sitting down on the cushions when the door to the inside of the tower opened. In walked... a strange creature.
Twilight gasped.
The being seemed nearly two meters tall. It was clearly bipedal. It had very little hair except for some on top of its head and under its strange nose. It resembled a monkey and wore khaki clothing over its upper and lower body. It had five-digit appendages instead of hooves. Glancing at its feet, Twilight realized, much to her horror, it wore leather boots.
Twilight cowered slightly, she had no idea who or what this creature was, or what it wanted. Her panic overcame her and she began to slowly back away towards the balcony door. The creature recovered from its own state of confusion and smiled, showing its white teeth. Twilight noted it had canines.
"Ello' there? Who er' you?" It spoke. Twilight was momentarily stunned but rejoiced. If it could talk, it could be reasoned with.
"H-hello t-there, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle." In her nervousness, Twilight opted to refer to her appointed title. The reaction of the creature was almost instantaneous. Its feet snapped together as its entire body straightened out. It reminded Twilight of when her brother called guards to attention. Suddenly, it clicked, this being was a soldier, or representative of another race, conducting diplomatic negotiations with the Princess.
Twilight profited from the current situation by examining the creatures facial features. It seemed masculine. He had brown hair atop his head and a small mustache under his nose. He also had piercing blue eyes. Said eyes were staring directly at Twilight as she observed him.
Before any more could be said, the door opened again, with another creature, similar in size and appearance, except wearing some sort of cap, along with a sword attached to his belt. He had sandy blonde hair, along with soft brown eyes. Following this creature, was Twilight's beloved mentor, and ruler of the day, Princess Celestia. Twilight immediately bowed. She heard Princess Celestia lightly giggle.
"Now Twilight, I've told you time and time again that you no longer need to bow, you are my equal now." Twilight sheepishly stood back up, muttering an apology. She noticed the original creature in question had still not moved. The new creature followed her look and noticed the other creature still at some sort of position of attention.
"Sergeant Stalber, at ease." He, as he clearly had a masculine voice, spoke with calm authority in an accent resembling a Canterlot noble. The Sergeant immediately shifted into what Twilight assumed was a more natural position. Twilight now simply looked at Celestia with confusion, who in return gave her a small smile.
"I'm sure you're wondering why I requested your presence so urgently. This," She said, gesturing her wing towards the creature that had entered the room with her, "is Captain Williams, of the British Expeditionary Force. You seem to have already been acquainted with his subordinate, Sergeant Stalber."
Twilight looked between the three other beings in the room. Captain Williams spoke.
"Our gracious host has asked us to answer any questions you have regarding our race and history." Twilight grinned, this was something she knew how to do. In a poof of magic, she summoned her trusty notepad and quill and got to work.
"What are you?"
"I am a human."
"Where do you come from?"
"We hail from England, a part of the British Empire." Twilight had never heard of such a place.
"Where is that on Equus?"
"That... that's the problem, it isn't." This confused Twilight. "Her Highness, Princess Celestia, believes we originate from a different world entirely." This was a new subject for Twilight. Her studies pertained to worldly locations and histories, and while her skills as a scientist and mathematician were the talk of every Equestrian university, she rarely dabbled in theories of other worlds. She was slightly out of her league, not that she'd say so.
"Well, how is your world different to ours?" For some reason, he smiled.
"Where to start... well, our world is separated into several continents, whereas yours is one massive landmass, yours seems to have many creatures that were viewed as mythical in ours, including yourself, an alicorn. Most importantly, your nations seem to be separated on grounds of race, whereas humans are the only sentient beings on our planet, and are separated into multiple nations. Ah yes, we also have no magic."
"What?!" This response, Twilight felt, at least in her opinion, was completely justified. "How could you possess such finely made clothing without magic? How did your society develop? What about your medicine?" He smiled.
"Perseverance and ingenuity, we also possess hands and opposable thumbs, thus giving us a significant advantage over other species in development." Suddenly, Twilight had a rather curious realization.
"Why did your country send soldiers as envoys?" He shuffled awkwardly.
"We are... not sure how we got here, my company was marching off to the frontlines when we found ourselves marching through the fields of your beautiful country. I and one platoon of men were the first to arrive at this city, where we were graciously bid entry by your wonderful Princess."
"It was the only proper choice of action, I will always be hospitable with those who come seeking refuge." Princess Celestia interjected. Twilight decided to continue her questioning.
"How many of you are there?"
"I possess a company of men, consisting of three rifle platoons, forty men each, along with a headquarters section, of around twenty more men." Twilight quickly did the math, judging that they would require food and provisions for about one-hundred and forty souls. She thought to ask what exactly a 'rifle' was but realized there was a much more important question pertaining to his earlier answer.
"You said you and your company were marching to a frontline before you arrived here, what do you mean by that? Your country's border?" Instead of directly answering her, he countered her question with a query of his own.
"How long has it been since the nation of Equestria last went to war?" He asked, Celestia answered before Twilight could.
"The last time my lands officially went to war was exactly five-hundred and sixteen years ago." Nodding his thanks, the Captain turned back to Twilight.
"To answer your question, we were marching through a small allied nation named Belgium, to liberate it from foreign aggressors, their name being Germany, inhabited by Germans." This surprised Twilight, who was completely unacquainted with the concept of war. She couldn't fathom how their relative sameness had not led to cooperation instead of violence.
"T-that's all I can think of right now, I'd love to talk to some of your, uh, soldiers if you wouldn't mind?" Twilight wanted to find out about their culture, and the best way to do such would be to talk to as many different people as possible.
"That's perfectly reasonable, her Highness, Princess Celestia, told me you'd be appointed as official liaison between the British Empire and Equestria." Twilight was elated to find out her beloved mentor had bestowed upon her such an honour. She was terribly excited to begin.
Suddenly, successive knocking rang out from outside the door to the stairs of the tower, then it abruptly stopped and shouting could be heard through the doors. Celestia's horn glowed a golden hue and the door swung open. Revealing a third British soldier, yelling at a Royal Guard, who was barring his way, he immediately ceased when he realized the door was open. Captain Williams spoke.
"Corporal Walton, what is the meaning of this?" He demanded harshly. The soldier went to attention and gulped nervously before speaking.
"Sir, I'm carrying a report from Lieutenant Samson, t-the rear guard received c-contact from German forces!"
========
"Open fire!"
The entire rifle section began shooting at the grey-coated figures moving up the road in front of them. One of these soldiers was Private Jeffrey Conway, he held his rifle firmly, and fired rapidly at the quickly disappearing figures.
The shooting ended just as quickly as it began, the enemy having melted into cover. The ambush was a success. Moments before, the section, consisting of around ten men, who were acting as a rear guard to the company's column, came across several German soldiers approaching behind them. Their Lieutenant had reacted quickly and had the men lay down on either side of the road, in low ditches. Once the enemy soldiers were sufficiently in view, they fired.
At least two grey-clad figures were lying still on the road, the others having darted off to either side. This was the most worrying part because Conway had no idea how many enemy soldiers were going to follow those shots. He received his answer seconds later.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Conway flinched as the rounds snapped overhead. Several German riflemen were working their way up the ditches, while another group further back was trying to pin down the British defenders. After a sufficient lull in their fire, Conway moved to a crouching position and took aim down the length of the ditch, where he could see several soldiers reloading their rifles.
Crack.
A soldier fell backward, a halo of blood erupting from his forehead. The others flinched but kept reloading frantically.
Crack.
A second man slumped forward, face first into the mud. Another soldier, having lost his nerve, dived back into the brush, disappearing from view.
Crack.
A third was hit, he was bleeding from his left leg, his rifle loaded, he gritted his teeth and took aim at Conway.
Crack.
He flew backward, emitting a bloodcurdling cry, he rolled on the ground, clutching his stomach. Conway scanned across to the other ditch, he spotted a German officer, an obvious target with his cap and a sword in his left hand. He took aim, and as he did, he paled when he realized the officer was aiming at him with his pistol.
Crack.
Conway gasped as he fell over, his right shoulder, the one he rested his rifle on, burned terribly, his vision clouded with pain. He let his rifle fall to the ground and observed, only half conscious. He noticed his comrades had long since departed, the Lieutenant had probably called a withdrawal, which Conway hadn't noticed in his adrenaline-fueled shootout. It occurred to him that he was probably about to die. He wasn't particularly scared, just sorely disappointed, he had always worked hard as a soldier, and one lapse of attention had seemingly cost him his life. 'Oh well, at least I held them up long enough for my friends to make their escape' he thought morbidly. The sounds of boots crunching in the muddy ground beneath them rung in his ears. He rose himself to one knee, his rifle discarded.
He noticed the German officer who had shot him approaching, pistol in hand.
He looked closely at the officer, seeing him in detail for the first time. He wore a large sword fixed to his belt. He wore a officers grey trench coat. He had sandy blonde hair with greenish-brown eyes. He seemed to be smiling and spoke impeccable English.
"How brave of you, Tommy? Holding the line so your comrades could escape. It seems the war is over for you now." As Conway's vision began to fade, he noticed a huge influx of German soldiers heading down the road, the officer motioned for one to break out of their marching column and approach Conway, he had a crude red cross painted on his helmet.
Not the worst thing Conway could have seen before he fell into unconsciousness.
========
Major Strasser was having a bad day. No, a bad week at that. He'd been leading his battalion towards the front lines when a thick mist had fallen over the battlefield. This wasn't unusual, as artillery smoke and fire were often present from the fighting, however, this fog had been thick as soup, as Sergeant Uller had said. After it cleared and they had found themselves in a thick forest. Roll call had been made, and his entire battalion had seemingly been transported to a mystical world. A sentry had killed a large beast with several shots from his rifle. Doctor Wexer had said the thing resembled a manticore from ancient Persian lore, this... was somewhat concerning.
Worse still, their old adversaries the British had followed them into this strange land! They had been pursuing what seemed to be a small contingent of British troops for hours now, Strasser hadn't been very worried, his battalion was mostly composed of hardened veterans from Verdun, who could be depended upon to simply swamp any defense the British would put up. What annoyed him, he thought, was that the British continued to run North, deeper and deeper into this foreign territory, instead of accepting the futility of the situation. Nevertheless, they would run out of supplies, and then they would be smashed. Any deeper strategical thoughts were interrupted as a soldier approaching him caught his attention.
"Sir, Sergeant Uller, reporting.'' The fair-haired Sergeant had been in the NCO corps since before the war and was older than Strasser by at least a decade. He had pale blue eyes and very little hair, as he insisted on shaving it off whenever he had the chance. Major Strasser nodded his consent.
''Report, Sergeant."
"Two men killed, a handful wounded, we've captured that one Tommy you shot, Captain Wexer examined him, he says he'll live."
"Good, too many people have died already."
"And more still to come, I assume we are to resume the pursuit of the Tommies?" Strasser smiled.
"Of course, Sergeant, hitting their rearguard means we're about to catch up to the bastards. " The Sergeant nodded, as Strasser had forbidden saluting in the field, to not make officers a target for snipers, and set off to begin ordering the columns to reform. Strasser felt relieved to have such a fine soldier working for him.
He began to observe his surroundings more as they resumed their advance. The road was not paved nor surfaced, but was a mere muddy track, reminding him of the clogged roads of rainy Belgium. To either side of the road were small ditches, meant to collect rainwater. Past that, dense forest covered both sides of the road, this concentrated his forces, but also prevented the British from enveloping them. Where are you, Strasser? He wondered to himself.
A strange whirring sound made him come to his senses, it sounded eerily familiar... it was a plane engine! Several soldiers were already glancing around in the sky, pointing at this and that, trying to spot the aircraft. Strasser paled, if it was an enemy craft it would be able to strafe the column mercilessly, this wouldn't do. He was about to order everyone to go to ground and melt into the surrounding forests when a soldier finally spotted the aircraft.
"There it is! It's an Albatros!" The Major grinned. A German reconnaissance plane was exactly what he needed to pinpoint the retreating British soldiers. He jogged over to one of their caravan wagons, which was being towed by two large, brown coated stallions, and pulled out a flare gun and one round. He chambered it and fired straight into the air. While the color and brightness of the flare would be difficult to see on a bright sunny day, the whining sound was still quite noticeable.
The German plane immediately spotted it and banked, as it flew over the column, it waggled its wings, showing that it had seen them. A ragged cheer went up from the soldiers. However, they had no way to communicate with the plane, and the Major couldn't see how it could land. As if reading his thoughts, the plane banked around again and flew low over the road, so low that for a moment the Major thought he was going to land directly on top of them. Suddenly, the plane shifted left, hard. It disappeared over the canopy as it was descending. Major Strasser tensed, fully expecting to hear the sound of a mighty crash. When none came, he glanced over at two equally dumbfounded soldiers.
"You two, follow me."
"Yes, Sir!" He began pushing his way through the brush. Heading the way he had last seen the plane. The engine had sputtered and ceased, which indicated that the vehicle had made a successful landing. After less than fifty meters of pushing through thick brush, he fell forward. Both soldiers who followed him took care not to suffer the same fate, as they broke through the barrier of the forest, they gasped.
Pushing himself up, Strasser began to observe his surroundings. He was in a colorful field, full of flowers of all colors. He could see the plane had landed successfully, and the pilot was pacing around it to examine it for possible damage. What was breathtaking, however, was the massive castle he could see in the distance.
As it was some distance away, the amount of detail he could make out meant its size was staggering. It had massive spiral towers and the upper citadel seemed to have been built into the cliff face itself. He had seen large castles in his travels to the Austrian kingdom, but they never had been as majestic or massive in the scale that the one he was now looking at was. Shaking his head, he walked over to the pilot, who had finally noticed them. As the pilot removed his large scarf and goggles, the Major was surprised to see a familiar blond haired blue eyed face staring back at him.
"Jurgen?" He asked, not believing the coincidence.
"The very same," His brother replied, "I heard your battalion was moving off to the front, so I... borrowed this Albatros CX to do a little observation for you." The German Air Corps was almost entirely made out of aristocrats, and his brother had jumped at the chance to become what he called; 'A knight of the sky'. The Major had been entirely content to take a traditional commanding position in the infantry.
"Well, brother, now you're in this mess with us."
"That I am, have you seen that castle over there?!" He said, gesturing frantically at the massive structure in the distance. "I flew near it this morning, it seems to be populated with tiny horse creatures."
"Damn, brother, we killed a monster from ancient mythology yesterday, I believe we're no longer on earth as we know it anymore." His brother laughed and clapped his hands in joy.
"Good riddance! Now we can stop murdering each other."
"Heh, funny you should mention that, it seems the Tommies have beaten us here, we've already had several skirmishes with them." Jurgen frowned.
"Damn, not even new worlds will prevent us from shooting each other to death, will it?" He stated.
"Sadly, I'm inclined to agree with you." Jurgen began a detailed explanation of the direction the Major had to take to bring his battalion to the imposing fortress, perhaps the locals could help them with returning home. The Major gave his much-loved brother a cheery wave as he turned and returned to his men. Perhaps this world was a new beginning, maybe, once they'd defeated and disarmed the British soldiers, they could find peace in this new world.
Only time would tell.
Author's Note
And so it begins...
All Quiet On The Equestrian Front
Even as she walked. Twilight continued to pester anyone within range with a torrent of questions. Princess Celestia had sent her with Sergeant Stalber to the British camp, to learn more of their race and culture.
"Why will you not explain to me what 'bollocks' means." She asked, a hint of frustration in her voice.
"Because, yer Majesty, yer a bit too young fer' that jabber." Replied the Sergeant matter-of-factly.
"I am not too young! And please, call me Twilight."
"Of course, Princess Twilight." Twilight couldn't see his grin, as he was in front of her.
"Hey-". Twilight paused as she realized they had arrived. The Princess had generously vacated a section of the royal guard barracks for use by the humans. They had quickly occupied it and had turned it into a small fortress. Two sentries were present at every door. She could see soldiers doing various things through the many glass windows as they passed the side of the large stone structure. Reading, exercising, or cleaning their 'weapons', long metal and wooden combinations that seemed to be a more refined version of cannon projectile technology.
"Alright, I have things to attend to, so I'm going to pair you up with a fine lad that'll answer your questions and show you what's what." He motioned at a young soldier sitting outside the building, clearly absorbed in some kind of novel. The soldier had fine blond hair and dark green eyes. He finally noticed the two beings standing near over top him.
"Top o' the mornin' Sarge! Fancy a read a this? These tiny horses use the same English language known teh' you and me, ain't it maddening!" He seemed to not notice Twilight in any way. The Sergeant groaned.
"Corporal, I've talked to you about addressing your chain of command properly, but now you're ignoring royalty, that carries a heavy penalty." He warned.
"What are ye talkin' about Sarg- oh!" He finally noticed the lavender pony standing there. He sprang to his feet and came to attention. The Sergeant smiled and looked over to Twilight.
"This here is Corporal James Walton, he'll be your guide round' the barracks. Till next time, Princess." He came to attention and then walked away. Twilight remembered what the Captain had said about rank, and how their country had a royal family which was treated with reverence. She cleared her throat.
"Uh, a-at ease." Corporal Walton shifted and visibly relaxed. He looked directly at Twilight and smiled.
"And who might you be, miss?"
"Please, call me Twilight, I'm in charge of research of human culture. Ooh! This is so exciting!" The Corporal smiled.
"Well, good day to yeh', Prin- er... Twilight! I'd be happy to show ya round' the barracks yer Princess o' the Sun has kindly lent us." He said as he set off towards the door. Twilight followed him, an enthusiastic grin reaching her face as she reverted to 'science mode'. She was in her element.
They walked inside the building and Twilight observed they had separated the building into three sections, one for their equipment, one for the so-called enlisted men and another for their officers. She asked him about the difference.
"Well... enlisted men work for a livin! Ha! I'm just pullin' yer leg. Us enlisted folks either volunteered when the war broke out er' we were conscripted to fight fer' King and country." He seemed uncomfortable and refused to meet her questioning gaze as he began fiddling with his watch.
"Conscripted? You mean you were forced to become a soldier?" Twilight asked, confused at the prospect, the guard was completely voluntary, although, Equestria had never been forced to engage in a war so cataclysmic as the one described to her by the Captain.
"O' course, one o' the perks of livin' in a free civilization is teh' fight fer it." He grinned sarcastically.
"What about officers?" He momentarily frowned, then resumed his childish grin.
"Aye, the good officers are born fer their roles, or at least that's what we're told. The noble Captain has kept us safe so far though, so they might be on teh' somethin'." He motioned to a locked door. As Twilight approached, she took notice to the soldiers hanging around the room, some were on the ever-present bunkbeds, fiddling with their uniforms and bags, while others stood around and chatted amongst friends, she thought she saw a few individuals playing a card game of some sort too.
"All right, I suppose I should answer some of yer' more... military-centric questions and get em' outta the way." He nodded at a soldier sitting in a chair beside the locked door. The man tossed him a loop with several keys attached. The Corporal started trying the keys on the door, cursing under his breath as key after key failed to open it.
"So... what exactly is this war you've been fighting about, I hadn't really taken too much time to think about it until now," Twilight asked.
"This war is purely defensive, so our noble leaders say, the Jerries, that's the Germans, mind you, decided to march up through a tiny land named Belgium. Us British promised em protection should they ever be attacked."
"Why would the Germans ever want to attack Belgium?" Corporal Walton cursed as another key failed him.
"To attack the nation of France, of course."
"What? Why?!" The Corporal ceased searching through the keys for a moment.
"Well, the way I see it, it happened like this; the Serbians shot an Austrian noble, so the Austrians invade em, Russia vows to protect the Serbs, Germany vows to protect the Austrians, and France, being an ally of Russia, vows to fight with em', should it come to blows. Germany, needing to defeat France, invades through Belgium to gain an edge, forgetting that we British had an agreement with em'. Finally!" He exclaims, finding the correct key.
"That seems... needlessly complicated, couldn't the Austrians and the Serbians have come to a compromise?" Opening the door, the Corporal looked back at Twilight.
"If we had more kind-hearted fellows in government such as yourself, maybe we would have, but that was all a few years ago, now nobody knows how to end the damn thing. Anyway, enough o' me ramblings', let us show ya our stockpiles." They stepped into a vast room, all the bunks had been removed, the walls were stacked high with large wooden boxes. several large frames attached to tubular devices also lay around.
"Wow." Said Twilight flabbergasted.
"Tis' quite a sight, I heard the quartermaster said we had some fifty thousand rounds of ammunition in here. Good thing the rifles an machine guns use the same cartridge."
"The Captain did mention you would give a demonstration of your... weapons, when do you think you could you do this?" He glanced down at his watch.
"Hmmm, perhaps ye could give me an hour er so, your guard has an arrow range round back, I'll recruit some lads and get some guns set up for a show, go on and invite yer' other Princess, will ya? Best to show her our technological might!" He said as he checked several objects in the room. Twilight nodded to him in affirmative and set off to fly back to the tower to inform Princess Celestia.
==========
An hour later, the Equestrian diarchy and Twilight approached the archery range. It was still a few hours until dusk, but Celestia had insisted that her younger sister be reintroduced to military affairs. She had been their chief general before her fall. As nearly the entire Equestrian royalty approached the range, Twilight took note of their surroundings. The range was a simple flat rectangular plot of land, the massive mountain wall served as a backstop for projectiles, the farthest target was placed at five-hundred meters, which was considered a difficult distance for even the most proficient mages to place accurate spells on the target. As they got closer, Twilight took notice of Corporal Walton, who had a small body of men behind him, presumably to provide the demonstration. The soldiers went to attention as they approached. Celestia gave them a soft smile.
"At ease." She spoke, her tone gentle and motherly. Twilight figured that, as the diarchy were sometimes viewed as Goddesses by the common ponies of Equestria, people of another world might hold the same opinion of them, if not being even more enthusiastic. Corporal Walton returned his signature grin, clearly excited about the upcoming demonstration.
"Good-evenin' yer Majesties. I take it young Princess Twilight has informed you o' the details."
"Oh yes, we," glancing to her lunar sister, "find it most critical that we were all present to view your demonstration." Luna, her ethereal mane flowing with the same otherworldliness of her sister's, nodded. Twilight saw that the Corporal had noticed the Princess' had forgone their usual attired in place of their armors. Celestia wore golden armor ornate with images of light and sun-rays, while Luna's was shimmering with constellations and different phases of the moon.
"Yes, yes. Well met fair soldier. We must insist that thou proceed with the demonstration post haste." Luna seemed to revert back to her ancient language whenever she was agitated or excited, Twilight could clearly tell it was the latter, as Luna had been overjoyed to come and watch the proceedings.
"O' course yer' Majesties, right this way." Said the Corporal, motioning the royalty to advance closer to the firing line. A large white cloth tarp had been rolled out and present upon it were various objects of different sizes. One, in particular, seemed to be the type of weapon the average human soldier carried, a long and complicated combination of wood and metal.
"There, that one is issued to thy common soldiery, show us its workings," Luna said, as she motioned towards the weapon with one hoof. The Corporal walked over and picked it up. He held it out side-on towards the ponies.
"This thing's technical name is a Short Magazine Lee Enfield, named after its inventor and such, o' course the type of weapon tis' a firearm, specifically a 'rifle'."
"This... rifle, what does it do, exactly?" Queried Celestia. Somehow, Corporal Walton's grin got even wider.
"This weapon be the mainstay o' our forces yer' Majesty. It uses a concoction of chemicals to propel a small metal projectile at astronomically high speeds towards a target. I'll demonstrate for yeh'." He produced several conical shaped objects from a pouch on his person. He worked a bolt at the top of the rifle and placed several of the objects inside. He then explained that he had 'chambered' a 'round' when he pushed the bolt closed again.
"How accurately can this weapon be aimed, warrior?" Asked Luna.
"We have some crack shots who could hit a small coin at several hundred meters, I'm not a crack shot. I'll be aiming for the target at three hundred, yonder painted hay bale." He said, motioning towards the target at that distance. He placed himself on the line, then, hunched forward slightly, and assumed a 'firing position', as he called it. He placed the rifle to his shoulder and aimed.
"Oh yeah, yer' Majesties, yeh' might want ta' cover yer' ears, the sounds are a bit startlin' at first." The Princess of the night snickered.
"Oh, come now, I have faced innumerable evils, seen the nine screeching hells of Tartarus, escaped harpies crying for my blood, surely it is not so lou-"
Crack.
Luna and Twilight both jumped at the sound. Princess Celestia seemed surprised but hadn't flinched. The hay bale at three hundred meters exploded, showering its vicinity with its remains. Corporal Walton turned to face the ponies, a cheeky grin adorned his face.
"I tried teh' warn yeh'." Princess Luna regained her composure and cleared her throat.
"Yes, indeed, tis a powerful tool in the hands of common soldiers. You seem to be able to operate it with grace by yourself, we wonder why thou hast brought these extra hands with you?" She spoke, motioning towards the small group of soldiers to their right. Just past them, there was an object hidden away by another white sheet.
"Oh, I'll require them for the grand finale, yer' Majesties, to see the finest weapon offered to us poor bloody infantry."
"We are intrigued, show us this weapon." Walton shrugged.
"As ye' wish. Boys! Bring the gun to bear on the five hundred meter target!" The small group of soldiers sprang into action, the sheet was pulled off the gun to reveal the same device Twilight had seen in the barracks storage, it was a cylindrical device atop a large tripod. Luna smiled at the craftsmanship and authority the device seemed to command around the soldiers. She spoke.
"What is it?" For once, Walton's grin faltered, his face wore a grim expression.
"This is what's called a Vickers Machine Gun, it fires at up to five hundred rounds a minute and is effective up to eight hundred meters."
"Not even our best mages could make such a precise shot! Surely you jest?" Luna stated, completely serious.
"I make no jokes yer Majesty, if one of these targets were at that distance I would prove it to yeh'." Replied the Corporal.
"So be it." Said, Luna, as her horn glowed. A blue aura surrounded the farthest target, it levitated off the ground. The British soldiers were watching with wide eyes, still not used to such blatant contradictions of science. The hay bale target was dropped some distance from its original position. The lunar Princess turned to face the Corporal, a smirk on her face.
"Whenever thy weapon is ready, warrior." She said. Her confidence waned slightly when the Corporal gained a savage grin. He motioned to the now fully prepped crew of the gun. One behind the trigger, one by the ammunition box, and one spotting with a pair of binoculars.
"Alright gents, give the target a proper hosing down!" The gunner clicked off the safety and cocked the weapon. A second passed, and the gunner pressed on the trigger.
A pause.
"...Uh, Corporal, gun's jammed." Stated the loader matter-of-factly.
"Clear it then you bloody git!" Shouted the Corporal. He turned to the Princess'. "Sorry about that, yer' Majesties, the guns often jammed after unpacking, what with the humid atmosphere in storage an' all."
"We are glad to see personal prowess is not totally gone from the battlefield, perhaps We shall show thee how to hit a target at such a range." Luna stepped towards the line and charged her horn. She focused on her target, channeling her energy towards a single pinprick sized point.
"Jam cleared, Corporal!"
"Then fire, dammit!"
Luna's concentration was shattered by the ratatat as the gun opened up. It sounded like the roar of a waterfall from where she was standing, a few feet from the muzzle. She quickly stepped back and observed the target, or rather, what had once been a target. The hay bale was torn to pieces, some of which were on fire. At such range, it seemed the gun simply saturated the entire area, it's lethal rounds meaning death to any unfortunate enough to be in its arc of fire.
"As yeh' can see, t'isnt necessarily an accurate weapon, but it gets teh' job done quite well if I do say so myself," Walton said, still grinning ear to ear.
Twilight was stunned. These weapons would wreak havoc on any enemy that dared oppose the British, how had a terrible war started when all who participated would surely die at the hands of such destructive weapons as this? She opened her mouth to ask the Corporal when behind them came a Royal Guard at full gallop. He tried to come to a halt but found himself sliding along the dirt towards the three Princess'. He put his forelegs out in front of him in a futile attempt to slow himself down as he continued to skid towards the Princesses. Thankfully, Celestia's horn worked its magic as she caught the pony in its warm glow, slowing him down. He recovered his composure and bowed.
"Stout Resolve, you should be more careful, I won't always be around to save you." Celestia jested, though the guard in question looked mortified. Twilight still found it touching that the Princess had learned the names of every one of the Royal Guard, it certainly had aided in their undying loyalty towards her well being, however, they still hadn't forgiven themselves for the debacle of Princess Cadence's wedding.
"My Princess, I bring word from the city watch commander, Stone Wall, more humans have arrived outside the castle perimeter, requesting a parley."
Who could they be, Twilight wondered. The British had said they had only seen themselves on their journey here, except...
"The Germans!" Gasped Twilight.
"Indeed," Spoke the newly arrived Captain Williams, "I had received the news some time ago, but thought it would be prudent to warn our gracious hosts before trying to commit to any negotiations." Celestia nodded approvingly.
"I thank you for that, let us go and meet these 'Germans', perhaps they will listen to reason and cease this nonsense." She said as the party journeyed towards the city gates. No one took notice of the Corporal, silently cursing about not being able to show off the hand grenades, and other assorted weapons of war he had brought.
========
Strasser groaned in frustration as he checked his watch. He had been standing at the gate of the castle of more than twenty minutes now. He carried a stick with a white cloth tied to it, hoping to parley and convince the British to see the futility of their situation. He hoped for a bloodless victory, though he knew it wasn't likely to go that way. Looking away from his watch, he took the time to examine the gate in detail. The guard on the battlements had called it the 'Sun gate' when he approached. It was barred by large metal frames. He looked more closely and saw the metal bars were bolted together. How did these ponies have bolts, he wondered. His brother had been right, the town was clearly occupied and protected by small horse creatures, who called themselves ponies. The guard he had talked to had said they would send for the 'Princesses', no doubt the rulers of this land.
His attention was seized by the sound of the metal gate rising up into the battlements gatehouse. He observed in interest as three creatures and one human walked out. The human was clearly a British officer, perhaps the commander of their forces. There beside him was a small pony who had both wings and horn, her coat lavender and her eyes eager. Beside those two were very different creatures. One of pure white and one of dark blue. The dark blue one had azure eyes and a stunning mane, it flowed like the wind was constantly pushing through it and had copies of constellations sewn throughout. The white one had large magenta eyes and a stern face. Her mane was home to several colours and had the same ethereal effect of dark-colored pony. Those two were clearly the Princesses and rulers of the land, the white one was also larger than the other two ponies, and her eyes were level with the Majors.
"Hello, I am Major Konrad Strasser, 542nd Sturmbataillon, Prussian Guards Corps." He said as he came to attention, clicking his heels and saluting. The Captain returned his salute.
"Good day, I am Captain Alfred Williams, A company, 45th London Division." He only has a company worth of soldiers? The Major thought, perhaps a peaceful end was possible.
"I am Princess Celestia, herald of the sun, and co-ruler of Equestria." Celestia, try as she might to sound stern and diplomatic, her voice was soft and motherly. Strasser smiled, finally having a name for the land in which they were present, though Princess Celestia remained stoic and stern-faced.
"Greetings, We-I am Princess Luna, herald of the moon, co-ruler of Equestria, along with my sister." Though Luna did not share her sister's stoicism at first, her demeanor changed as she announced herself, her eyes were cold and her face unreadable. Strasser ceased smiling, he'd have to watch himself around her.
"It's startling to see a German speaking better English than some of my own troops, Major." Said Captain Williams.
"I studied at Oxford before the war." He said before clearing his throat. "Your Majesties, Captain, I am here to demand the surrender of all British forces within the city, you have my word they will be treated honourably and fairly according to the articles of war." Princess Celestia spoke first.
"Major, I will not have fighting on my nation's soil, we are a peaceful land. I have invited the Captain and his men to stay inside my keep not because I'm choosing sides, but because I am hospitable. Perhaps I could invite you to dine with us and we could come to a compromise."
"Major Strasser, I will not surrender my men to you in a foreign land with little hope of returning to the frontlines in any reasonable amount of time." The Captain said.
"I have my duty to my country as much as you do Captain, acquiesce to my demands or I'll have no choice but to lay siege to the city."
"Please Major! I am currently searching magical archives for a way to return both your people's home, why can't you just accept peace for now?" Celestia said, raising her voice in distress. The Major noticed her wings fluttered as she spoke, an interesting genetic trait, he thought. He badly wished to agree, to end the madness, but he had sworn an oath to his men and his Kaiser, he would fight. Besides, how could he give up now, after so many men were lost chasing the British down.
"You have three hours to raise a white flag over the battlements and lay down your arms before I order my soldiers to lay siege to the city," He said, turning to walk away, "good day." As he began to walk back down the large cobble road to where the initial camp had been laid. He stopped as he heard a faint glowing.
"Thou art an insignificant cur! How dare thee attempt to walk away from this parley! To threaten this city, the very heart of Equestria!" He turned, just in time to see a shining blue beam launch from Princess Luna's horn. It struck him in the chest and he was thrown from his feet, landing on his back a few feet away.
"Sister! Cease this, he came here under parley!" Groaning, Strasser rolled over and pushed himself to his feet.
"I do not understand, dear sister. I cast a freezing spell, I wished to halt him, not hurt him!" While coughing, Strasser turned towards the party. The Captain seemed stunned and indecisive. Good, thought Strasser, if storming the fortress was required that could be exploited. The small purple pony was equally flabbergasted, her eyes darting between Luna's horn and the Major's now smoking chest. He looked down, his uniform was slightly charred where the beam connected. The two Princesses were facing each other, arguing back and forth. Suddenly, the purple pony shook her head and regained her thoughts.
"Magic doesn't affect them." The sisters ceased arguing. Celestia spoke next.
"What do you mean, Twilight?" Major Strasser was also curious.
"He was only affected by the physical nature of the spell, the force applied to reach the target was all that affected him, he didn't absorb the spell, his body rejected it outright!" The Major smiled, this meant that the one wildcard in British hands was essentially nullified. If a beam fired by their Princess couldn't overtly damage him. He grimaced, his left ankle tingled and was probably mildly sprained. The ponies now understood they couldn't resist his men.
"Are you rethinking your previous statement, Captain?" Strasser couldn't help but grin smugly. The Captain shook his head.
"No, I will not surrender to the likes of you, German," Strasser noted the Captain ended the sentence with a particularly venomous tone.
"Well then, I thank you, Princess Luna, you have saved me three hours of waiting. Ponies will be allowed to pass through the blockade, after an inspection, humans will not, good day." Major Strasser turned and began to walk away a second time. He very quickly realized his fall had twisted his ankle. He began limping slightly, gritting his teeth, he refused to show weakness to his adversary.
As the Major walked away the remnants of the negotiators formed a small circle.
"I apologize for all this, your Majesties. Give me an hour and I'll march my men out the moon gate and your people will no longer be in any danger." The Captain spoke with a grim resolve. Princess Celestia, initially stunned, resumed her stoic facial expression and spoke.
"Never, I said Equestria was a land of peace and hospitality and I meant what I said. Even if the Germans decided to bar ponies from entering the city, Canterlot has emergency provisions to be self-sufficient for many years. After a few weeks, we will bring this Major Strasser back the negotiating table and a compromise will be established. Luna, I'm going to work doubly hard to find a way to send our friends home, in order to avert a confrontation, I need you to take over some of my daily duties for the foreseeable future." Princess Luna nodded, a warm smile on her face.
"Of course, dear sister, we must all pitch in to help in this crisis." Celestia turned to Twilight.
"Twilight, I need you to work on discovering why our magic affects humans so little, perhaps there are ways of bypassing this immunity." Twilight nodded enthusiastically, eager to show her worth to her beloved tutor.
"Absolutely Princess! I'll head over to their barracks right now!"
========
Twilight was seldom seen for the next three days, and when she was, she was always accompanied by Corporal Walton, who was assigned to be her "test subject" of sorts. He had responded well to the constant probing in his good-natured way, actively joking and conversing. She had started with the basic forms of magical manipulation. She found that she could levitate him for a short few seconds before her magic simply fizzled out and gravity took control, Twilight was cautious about performing more advanced spells as she didn't want to actually hurt the Corporal. Based on the interaction, or rather, lack thereof, between her magic and Walton, it seemed to be that the human body simply rejected and dispelled magic after it came into contact with the skin. Her theory was that, seeing as the humans were not of this world, it was possible that there simply was no magic on the human world, and magic simply could not manifest itself on their bodies.
"Yes, yer Maj- Twilight?" After being tossed around repeatedly the Corporal had once more ceased using her title of Princess, Twilight preferred this as it allowed them to connect on a more personal level. During her experiments, Corporal Walton had shown himself to be quite proficient in scientific matters, he had explained that he had been preparing to study at a prestigious university when the war broke out and he volunteered to fight.
"Why do British soldiers have such different accents?" The question had irked her for a while, Walton, the Captain, and the Sergeant all had such varied accents.
"Heh," He replied, smiling, "well, it on account o' the different places we come from, fer' instance, I come from an island named Ireland, the Captains accent comes from his aristocratic London birth and the Sergeant is from Wessex." Twilight badly wished to learn about all these lands, but one question came out above all others.
"How did all your lands unite?" Twilight hoped for an answer akin to Heartswarming Eve, though from what little she knew of the human world she knew it wouldn't be as simple. Corporal Walton lost his smile.
"Well, ya see, we uh," He glanced around nervously as if checking for some unseen eavesdroppers, "what I mean to say is, the lovin' King-"
"You were conquered, weren't you." She interrupted.
"Yes, that we were," He adopted a grim smile, "It's a bit more complicated than that, but the land of Ireland was once sovereign over its' own people."
"Why would you fight for your conquerors?"
"Some might say time is a factor, I say bollocks teh' that, I joined the army to learn how to fight, so that one day I could come home to defend me' own lands fer' a change."
"And then the war dragged on." Twilight knew how this part of the story went.
"Aye, on and on, four years past, then I finally had acquired a leave pass to see my family. However, while I had been off fighting England's wars there was fightin' in me hometown o' Dublin. As I walked past the smoking ruins o' the government buildings, demolished by British artillery, I was shunned by me' brothers and sisters, for serving that is, I was practically an Englishman to them, and I felt it too. My mother and father were sitting in our small home when an artillery shell had pulverized it, I spent the last days of my leave in a pub on Palcry street, drowning my sorrows. I did meet a nice lass though."
Twilight was frantically writing this all down when a strange drone filled her ears. Clearly, others had noticed it as well, she peered out a side window of the barracks and saw a large huddle of British soldiers shouting and pointing at the sky.
"Do you hear that James? Your fellow soldiers are outside, pointing at the sky?" Walton stood up from his crouched position and walked over to the window, he glanced outside and Twilight saw a flash of surprise in his eyes before he adopted his stoic expression once more.
"That there is an aeroplane, we better see if it's one of ours or theirs." They left the building and made their way over to the mass of British soldiers, Corporal Walton forced them to move aside for Twilight. They soon realized the soldiers had been huddled around Sergeant Stalber, he was currently fixated on a distant dot, which was most likely the so-called "aeroplane" Walton spoke of. He was looking through a pair of binoculars, and once more Twilight was caught up in the similarities between her world and theirs. He cursed.
"It's one of theirs." There was no question to who "they" were, Twilight could feel the emotion drain out of the soldiers around her, now they were watching morbidly, unable to look away. The plane was much closer now, Twilight could make out its shape and brownish colour. Walton quickly explained its basic characteristics, once more Twilight was surprised by the amazing technical successes achieved by a race without magic.
Suddenly the ground shook violently, so much so that Twilight struggled to not lose her footing. The shaking was immediately followed by an impossibly loud roar, a few dozen meters away, a massive fountain of earth erupted from the ground. In a few seconds, the massive formation of soldiers and separated across the drill square. Twilight felt a hand on her back firmly push her to the ground. It was Corporal Walton.
"The basterds' are shellin' us! Stay as low as possible an' ye'll be ok!" Similarly, he threw himself to the ground.
"I-I don't understand, they said they wouldn't attack ponies, we would they try and blow up a part of the palace." Twilight had to yell to be heard over the second explosion, dirt showered her, a testament to how close the explosion had been.
"They're only bombing our barracks, that damned plane is spotting for their artillery!" Sergeant Stalber shouted over the din. Twilight noticed that a distinct whistling sound announced the incoming shells. She briefly wondered whether she'd die today, and teared up at the thought of never seeing her friends again. They were barred from passing the German blockade, as the Germans had heard of the elements through discourse with other ponies trying to pass through, and decided to prevent them from passing as a precaution, Spike had sent the letter informing her himself. Rainbow Dash had considered flying the gap, but the warning shots from German sentries had dissuaded her, try as she might, she could not outrun a bullet.
Knowing that any moment could be her last Twilight pawed futilely at the ground as if to dig herself a hole to hide in. She heard the whistling sound, only this time it sounded louder than before, then it stopped abruptly, and no explosion followed, nervously, Twilight glanced up.
FK16 7.7 cm Schale TNT 0.19 Kg Seriennummer K00230533
Confused, Twilight realized she was staring at a larger version of the bullets shown to her by Walton, this was undoubtedly an artillery shell. She had been reading what appeared to be the production stamp. A light blue magical aura encompassed the shell, as it was hovering a few feet above her. A loud thud behind Twilight broke her fixation on the metal object. She turned and saw Princess Luna, complete in her regal armour, walking toward her.
"Good morn' to you Princess Twilight," she spoke in a jovial tone completely disregarding the bomb floating above their heads, "what exactly hast transpired here?"
"The Germans are shelling us, the swine are using a spotter aircraft to direct their fire!" Sergeant Stalber shouted. Princess Luna stretched her wings.
"Thank you, good Sergeant, we will fly out and kindly inform this scoundrel about the imminent reprisals they suffer should they not cease this attack." Just as she was about to take off, the ground shook once more and an explosion followed soon after. Dust and dirt shrouded the area. Luna quickly cast a wind spell, vacating the area of the dust. Twilight cleared her throat.
"Is everypony okay?" She glanced around, and for a brief second, it seemed no one was injured by the shell.
"I-I-I n-need..." She spun rapidly towards the voice and saw Sergeant Stalber, cuts on his face were oozing blood, and his hands were covering a wound over his chest. He staggered towards her and reached out with his right hand as if to touch her. Through moving his hand, he revealed his grisly wound to Twilight. There was a hole the size of her hoof through the left side of his chest, she could see an assortment of organs and what appeared to be his lungs, blood flowed like milk out of the wound. She gasped, horrified.
Sergeant Stalber took notice and glanced down at his horrible wound. His eyes no longer showed fear, his body ceased shaking and he took a deep breath, as his chest expanded even more blood poured from the wound. He would never exhale, he began coughing violently, blood spitting out of his mouth. He fell to his knees and stared off past Twilight. She followed his eyes and turned, almost without a thought. Her eyes fell upon Princess Luna, she stood there, mouth open in surprise, staring back at the Sergeant. Finally, his eyes glazed over and slumped to the ground, lying face down in the dirt.
Breaking eye contact brought both Princesses back into reality. Twilight gasped again and tears began flowing from her eyes at the sheer horror. She looked over to Luna and nearly recoiled from the sheer anger radiating off the Princess of the Night. Twilight followed her eyes. Luna glanced between Sergeant Stalber and the aeroplane, still lazily drifting in the distance, uncaring to the anguish it was causing. She then brought her eyes over to the artillery shell still in her aura, she squinted her eyes as she directed her horn toward the plane. Twilight's eyes widened in realization.
Wait. She had wanted to say, but it had been too late.
The shell flew in a straight line towards the plane, a streak of blue trailing behind it, it whistled as it traveled through the air, though it was difficult to hear above the scream of anguish and rage Luna emitted as she launched the object. It flew at astronomical speeds and was clearly on a collision course with the aircraft. The plane had only just noticed the strange object, and its evasive maneuvers were sloppily done, clearly affected by panic. Luna had merely grunted in frustration as she guided her magic missile towards its target. The shell slammed into the bottom of the left wing of the aircraft, causing it to immediately flip over, onto its belly. The plane began spinning, clearly out of the pilot's control. It descended rapidly and fell out of view, blocked by the thick walls of Canterlot. The walls did not block the sounds, and a tremendous crash rang out, metal no doubt slamming into the cold hard ground. It was immediately followed by an explosion, most likely the shell detonating against the earth. A huge plume of smoke rose over Canterlot, marking the death pyre of the aircraft.
Luna walked over to the Sergeant, turned his body over to see his face, and wept.
========
Major Strasser poured another glass of schnapps.
It's all your fault, you killed him.
Shut up. He thought as he drank.
You told him the Ponies wouldn't retaliate so long as the shells were only hitting the British, you might as well have signed his execution order.
I made a mistake, mistakes happen in war, I loved him, he was my brother!
Nevertheless, you've destroyed him, what will you tell Mother? He drank another shot.
The voice in the Major's head, currently prodding at his sanity, was interrupted by the sound of Sergeant Uller entering his tent.
"Sir, the pioneers have put out the fire, and uh... they possess... the remains."
"Preserve them and put them in our storage, I'll not bury my own brother in this foreign land."
"Yes, Sir." The Sergeant clicked his heels together and saluted, he was about to turn when he spoke again. "Sir, I've just been informed, the pioneers have also primed the necessary explosives to breach the gates." Major Strasser smiled grimly.
"Good, tomorrow we attack at dawn, it's high time we end this facade." Instinctively, the Majors hand rested itself on his pistol holster. His other hand on the Prussian cavalry saber that lay on the table. Given to him by his father after he had graduated from officer school. It had been passed down through generations since the Napoleonic wars. It was a symbol of everything he stood for, pride, professionalism, unbending loyalty, and war. Tomorrow I will have vengeance. He thought morbidly.
Author's Note
And so it continues.
All Quiet On The Equestrian Front
It was a moonless night, even the stars had dimmed, their glow shrouded in dark and cloudy skies. The wind blew hard, it pierced straight through thick clothing and straight to the core. Private Kant shivered, he felt terribly cold, even though he wore a greatcoat over his uniform, he carried no a rifle, but instead, a box labeled TNT along with a bayonet. He noted the fires lit on the walls of Canterlot. They were spaced evenly with about one-hundred meters between them, they silhouetted the pony guards who patrolled the walls.
Ponies . He still couldn't fathom it. They were in a world full of beauty and wonder and they were going to taint it with violence. Kant had been assigned to a special sapper group, the Major had given them orders personally, approach the gate under the cover of darkness, eliminate the sentries, and then plant the explosives. It was eliminating the sentries which scared Kant the most, he had never killed anyone, sure, he had been shot at and had returned fire, but killing a man at close range was something different altogether. He hoped there were no sentries outside the gate.
He was third in the small column, crawling slowly up the chosen path. The outside of the city was filled with lush open fields, with two large gravel paths leading to each gate. The gate with a massive moon plastered on the side of its parapet had a small ditch running parallel to the road. It likely cleared away rainwater on better days. Now it served to give the five-man group the little concealment they needed to approach relatively unseen. Behind Kant, there were two other sappers, each carrying small wooden boxes filled with sticks of dynamite.
Ahead of him, the column was led by two more experienced soldiers, Corporal Valk, and Sergeant Uller. As they continued crawling the length of the drainage ditch, Kant mentally rehearsed his mission. Approach the gate under the cover of darkness, eliminate the sentries, and then plant the explosives.
"Halt!" The harsh whisper returned Kant to the situation at hand, he began scanning for what might have caused a halt order. He noticed they were less than twenty meters from the walls of the pony city. There was what seemed to be a small customs office outside the gate. Light shone from the building, announcing it was occupied. The Sergeant glanced back at him.
"Corporal Valk, take Private Kant and secure the guard post, remember, we must not be discovered." He whispered orders for the other two privates to begin preparing their explosives while he kept a lookout. Kant left his explosives with the others as he followed Corporal Valk in their shuffle towards the small single room building. They crept around the side and took up positions at the door. Valk had a Mauser pistol in his hand in case anything got out of hand. Kant tried to rehearse the mission in his head, but all he could remember was, eliminate the sentries.
Valk tried the door, and without even so much as a creak it opened, he pushed quickly but quietly into the building, Kant staying right on his heels. They quickly searched the room for an occupant. The room possessed a small pony sized desk, along with a very small cushion. There were file cabinets set about the room, though they were by no means well-organized. Papers were strewn around the room, strangely, a mug of steaming coffee sat on the desk. Where is the guard? He thought.
A distinct sound of flushing water grabbed his attention and he glanced to his right. Beside the door, there was, in fact, an unseen extension to the building, a bland grey door swung open and out came a brown coated pony, flank first. He had a black mane, and as he gave them a surprised glance, Kant saw his piercing blue eyes.
For a moment, the time stood still. Both parties stared in disbelief at the other. The spell was broken as the pony nervously attempted to re-enter the side room he had come from. Corporal Valk rushed across the room, gripped the pony by his tail, and yanked him back, tossing him into the center of the room. The pony rolled and whinnied, and spoke. Kant did not understand the language, as he had never learned English, but from the tone and the fear in his eyes, he knew the pony was begging for his life. Eliminate the sentries.
"Go on, what are you waiting for? Slit his throat." The casualness of Corporal Valk's order disgusted Kant.
"The Major said to kill sentries, not murder poor ponies!" retorted Kant, this pony was no soldier, and Kant refused to harm him.
"Damn it, Kant, give me the bayonet and walk outside, I'll deal with this if you haven't got the stomach." The pony, oblivious to the nature of the argument going on in front of him, reached with his hoof and offered the Corporal the coffee on the desk with a sheepish smile. Corporal Valk grimaced and brushed it aside, its contents spilling over the hardwood floor.
"I won't let you, Corporal! I will not condone the murder of an innocent civilian for the sake of this operation!" Kant normally would never have spoken in such a manner to a man of higher rank like this, but all the stress of the last few days broke through his mental dam, even the brown coated pony flinched at the harshness of his words.
Before the Corporal could retort, a cacophony of gunfire filled their ears, followed by a large explosion. Private Kant remembered that a second sapper group had been dispatched to the other gate, they had most likely been forced to set off their explosives early. This was wonderful , he thought, if the element of surprise was already lost, they didn't have to kill the poor pony . The tension in the room eased slightly, as Corporal Valk came to the same conclusion. He laughed.
"Ha! Alright, Kant, you've done your good deed for the day, now get outside and help us start setting the explosives." As the Corporal walked outside, Kant wondered what to do with the pony, then he realized the pony had a pair of brown wings. A Pegasus, he thought. He took a moment to examine the wondrous appendages, then left the building, the pony awkwardly followed him out, confused. Kant faced the pony and pointed towards the city center, past the large outer walls.
"Go home pony! Live." The pony's eyes lit up in understanding and he stretched his wings to their full width, awing Kant. The Pegasus took to the skies and was soon a distant object far in the sky flying towards the city. Private Kant was relieved he hadn't had to kill the pony, or anyone else, for that matter.
Now if only the rest of the night could be like this. He thought grimly.
==========
"-are attacking! Twilight wake up!" The lavender pony grumbled and rolled over, facing towards the sound. She glanced at who was yelling so loudly in her room. She was surprised to see Corporal Walton, standing in his uniform, complete with a helmet and rifle.
"J-James, what's happening?"
"Princess I was sent ta' inform yeh', the Jerries have finally grown the balls to attack us, ya gotta get up ta' see Princess Celestia!" The revelation of the German attack immediately woke her from her stupor. She jumped out of bed and walked out the door, James following quickly behind her. The halls of the castle were filled to the brim with British soldiers and royal guards ponies. They made way for Twilight as she noticed a peculiar sound coming from the distance, she quickly realized it was gunfire, from the staccato of rifles to the rhythmic popping of machine guns, she gulped as she grimly realized war had come for Equestria.
"How did this happen?" She asked.
"German engineers managed to sneak right up to both of yer' gates, they woulda had complete surprise if it wasn't for an unscheduled change of guard on the sun gate, a gunfight ensued and the alarm was raised. The Jerries were prepared though, they've overrun the gates and we've been fighting them all over the city's lower districts."
As he finished, they came to a stop in front of Princess Celestia's personal quarters. There were two pony guards in front, as soon as Twilight approach they opened the doors to allow her entrance, Corporal Walton said he'd wait for her outside.
"I say, your highness, you're being unreasonable, allow us to exit through your postern gate and we'll trouble you no more."
"Captain, listen to me, I will not sacrifice you and your men to save my own hide, Faust! Why are you so stubborn!" Twilight shifted uncomfortably as she observed the tension between Princess Celestia and Captain Williams. They faced each other from across the room with varying degrees of frustration on their faces, they soon took notice of Twilight.
"Captain, if you'll excuse me, I must talk with Princess Twilight," Celestia said, her tone making it clear it wasn't a request. Captain Williams bristled and walked out without saying another word. As soon as he left the doors closed and Twilight found herself with her old mentor. They hugged.
"Twilight, you don't know how nice it is to see you."
"I'm happy to see you too Princess, though I wish it were in better circumstances."
"Agreed, Twilight, I have a task for you. I'm very close to uncovering a spell to fix this mess, I need you to organize the evacuation of ponies in the city, we need to bring them to the inner walls of the palace." Twilight beamed, an organizational problem she could fix!
"Of course, Princess! I'll do it immediately." Before she turned to leave, she noticed Celestia's demeanor had changed, she seemed less confident and had a haggard look on her face.
"Twilight, I have one more favor to ask. If you see Luna could you talk to her? And if need be, keep her from doing anything rash?" Twilight was confused, she had privately wondered about Luna's reaction at the death of poor Sergeant Stalber, she shuddered as she remembered his gruesome demise.
"Of course, I'll do that Princess, but why? Is something wrong with Princess Luna?" Princess Celestia smiled sadly.
"My sister was the one who found these humans, she discovered a peculiar dream of a certain Sergeant and had guided them to Canterlot, promising safety, afterward, it seems that they had gotten close, mostly meeting in dreams. I have tried to talk to her but she's been completely inconsolable. I'm afraid she might do something drastic." Suddenly Luna's reaction made more sense to Twilight and she felt a great remorse for the ruler of the night.
"I'll do everything I can Princess." Celestia smiled.
"Thank you, Twilight."
==========
"Yes, take only what you absolutely need," Twilight ushered the concerned pony past and faced the next, "you'll be brought back as soon as the fighting's over." She had begun organizing the evacuation process as soon as she left Princess Celestia's quarters. The royal guard had assigned a large contingent of guards ponies to help with the evacuation, they had opted to go door-to-door escorting civilians, and were moving quickly as ponies shuffled outside of their homes. The sounds of war echoed through the city, several fires were raging in the lower districts, though most if not all ponies had been evacuated from that area before it was lost.
Though the British were certainly tenacious and brave, they were simply being overrun and German soldiers were breaking through everywhere. They had evacuated the outskirts of their defenses and moved steadily inwards, just ahead of the retreating British. A royal guard pony appeared beside her and came to attention.
"Princess Twilight, we have evacuated this district as instructed!"
"Good work, keep using the system we developed and continue to work inwards, I'm going to see if I can help the soldiers somehow." Twilight knew the guards ponies could do their job without her help, truth be told, she was worried about Corporal Walton, she knew he'd be somewhere on the frontline and she wanted to help him. She pumped her wings and took to the skies and observed the scene below her.
Up in the air, the soldiers looked like grey and brown colored ants, she could see the muzzle flashes and hear the gunfire as the sun reached its zenith over the city. She still couldn't believe that they were actually killing each other, it felt like she was watching a sick game. She descended slightly to get a better look and noticed a familiar face, Corporal Walton moving between soldiers, shouting and cursing, ushering them forward towards a barricade strewn about the street. She saw he was still some ways behind what was left of the British lines, she went down to warn him.
"Go on, get that machine gun loaded, we aven't' got all day!" Twilight landed quickly and observed her surroundings. She was on one of the many side streets of Canterlot, small suburban-style houses lined the street. The British had erected a sandbag palisade across it, with another one of their machine guns on a center elevated wooden platform. As she approached, she noticed there were five soldiers manning the position, including Walton. There's so few, if they're attacked, they won't hold. Twilight approached Corporal Walton, who finally took notice of her.
"Ello' there Princess," he gave an exaggerated bow, "fancy meeting you in a place like this eh?" He laughed, albeit sounded strange, she noticed he was unusually red-faced and sweating profusely.
"Hello James, are you ok? You seem tense." He grinned, though it looked forced.
"Tense, harr, what with the five of us against an endless tide of Jerries, why we'll hold em till judgment day!" Twilight noted the bitter sarcasm in his voice.
"Princess Celestia is trying her best to find a spell to bring you back to your world... and you'll always be accepted here in Equestria. Now or never. James, I've been meaning to tell you, I've really enjoyed our time together and-"
"Contact!" Suddenly a hail of bullets filled the air and before Twilight realized what was going on Corporal Walton had dived on top of her and pushed her to the ground.
"Princess, it might be time for yeh' ta' go." He grunted, rolled off her and grabbing his rifle off the ground. As he crept towards the sandbag wall Twilight paused to regain her bearings. She took notice of the other four soldiers, three were still firing, the other, Twilight saw, was grotesquely slumped over the machine gun, his eyes bulged and his mouth open in surprise, his upper chest was torn to pieces, no doubt hit by several rounds simultaneously, Twilight turned and retched. What do I do? She thought.
The sound of the machine gun broke her from her stupor. Walton had thrown the body from the gun and manned it himself, raining death on the grey-clad figures trying to advance up the tight street. Those that stood were cut down, and then those who ran followed. The survivors were huddled in alleyways and house entrances. Twilight took one look at the massacre and nearly retched again, she counted nearly a dozen bodies strewn about the street in various positions of agony. Corporal Walton swore as the gun stopped firing with an audible click.
"Bastard! Keep firing yer' rifles, give us time to reload this bitch." The three surviving riflemen began firing frantically, succeeding in pinning down the majority of the soldiers. Then came a shout in a language Twilight didn't understand and suddenly the street was filled with a mass of grey soldiers, shouting and screaming as they ran towards the palisade, bayonets fixed, Twilight saw the anger and determination in their eyes, and though the other riflemen were firing just as quickly as before, it seemed to have no effect on the charge, which surged forward, now only a few meters to the parapet. This is it, she thought, they were going to be overru-
Bratatatatatatata
Like a series of grotesque dominoes, the soldiers in the street fell backward, crumbling under the intense machine gun fire. Within a few seconds, the street was devoid of life and an eerie silence fell down upon the defensive position. Twilight was preoccupied with constant dry heaving; dead bodies were actually piled upon each other in the street. She was having a hard time breathing. Oh Celestia, this is Tartarus! this is terrible, I can't breathe! I can't brea- . Her panic was interrupted by a crushing hug from a certain Irishman. She realized he was speaking to her.
"...s'okay Twilight, yer' okay now, yer' gonna be fine." He said as he stroked her mane and she visibly deflated, and mumbled, tears flowing from her eyes.
"I.. I.. I didn't want this... How could anyone do this? James? How could you survive four years of this? " She sobbed and continued, "I didn't think it would be like this, this isn't like an adventure."
"That's how we all thought it was gonna be Twilight, we all marched off fer' our high lords and thought we'd be heroes, those who'er' left know this isn't a fairy tale, it's hell." Twilight was about to reply when a loud whistling screech filled her ears. Corporal Walton once more threw himself over her and they both felt the ground shake as a shell slammed within a few meters of them. Twilight glanced over and saw a shell protruding from the cobbled streets, it seemed to have failed to explode.
Corporal Walton cursed loudly.
Twilight saw the other three soldiers on the parapet frantically pulling out strange masks which, she thought, looked quite intimidating.
"Twilight."
"Yes, James?" She noticed the frantic, terrified look in his eyes.
"D'ya have a fancy spell ta' change the shapes o' objects, like this?" He raised his hand, which encapsulated another of the strange masks. It was only at this point Twilight began to smell something... odd.
"Do you smell that James? I think it smells like... mustard."
"DO YA HAVE A SPELL?!" He shouted at her, wide eyes focused solely on her.
"Yes, I do ha-" her voice was muffled by the mask which was now being forced onto her face. After the initial panic wore off, her horn glowed gently and the mask conformed to her face, becoming elongated. Immediately, she felt restrained, her lack of vision, sound, or breath made her nearly tear off the mask instantly. However, being vigorously shaken by the Corporal brought her back into reality.
"Listen here, girl! Yer' a fine lass, ya 'ave gotta' survive this an become a better person, learn from all of this, don't make our mistakes, I didn't give yeh' that mask ta' see ya' waste yer' existence, now run! Please!" He practically was croaking at the end, his voice fracturing as he breathed. Twilight noticed the eerie mist which flowed down the street. She noticed the three other riflemen resuming their frantic fire on the parapet, but noted they now wore their masks. Finally, she noticed the state of Corporal Walton.
"James!" He fell to one knee, smiling at her, his nose oozing blood. His eyes bloodshot and his skin was beginning to blister, she felt a small burning pain but it was lost in the wave adrenaline pumping through her body.
"Promise me," He paused, coughing up a vile phlegm-like substance, "promise me you'll live a happier life than I have."
And then he spoke no more.
==========
He still couldn't believe it, even as he received the order, even as he strapped on his respirator, he hadn't believed it, but it was true. They had fired mustard gas into the city. As he moved along the streets, his rifle by his side, he glanced at the many bodies which lay strewn about, he noticed they were mostly fellow Germans, and could only mourn for a moment, before continuing on his mission in front of him.
Truth be told, Private Kant felt somewhat guilty as he observed the carnage, his actions during the initial raid were instrumental in breaching the gate. He tried to console himself with the fact that he had yet to fire his rifle, which meant he hadn't directly killed anyone. He was also secretly pleased by the lack of pony corpses, it seemed the Equestrians had evacuated the residential areas before the fighting had arrived.
"Hurry up Kant, we need to get to the castle, the gas worked, the British are broken!" Kant detested Corporal Valk's euphoric reaction to the use of such a terrible weapon, yet admired his enthusiasm to succeed, something Kant sorely lacked at the moment. As they jogged through the streets, sporadic gunfire, though muffled by their gas masks, could be heard rising to a crescendo throughout the city. This is it, we've won, but at what cost? He wondered as he passed more and more bodies.
They soon took notice of a gunfight up ahead of them, it seemed the British were staging a sort of last stand at a sandbag barricade, they were brave, but foolish, as the Germans had ten times their number and steadily approached under suppressive rifle fire.
"Come on, Kant! Hurry or we'll miss the fun!" Corporal Valk gleefully shouted as he broke into a sprint to catch up with the advancing soldiers. Private Kant rolled his eyes and increased his pace. He was shocked by the sheer amount of bodies in the locale, some were even piled on top of each other like discarded dolls, as he neared the parapet, he could see that these bodies were the handiwork of an experienced machine gunner, judging by the number of empty shell casings lying scattered on the ground. As he climbed over the parapet, he came upon a strange scene. The British riflemen had clearly fled up the street, and larges groups of soldiers were either streaming after them or melting into the surrounding streets to outflank stronger British holdouts.
Right behind the parapet, however, was a different sight altogether, there was a small huddle of soldiers in the middle of the street transfixed by something Kant could not see. He suddenly registered the sound of a woman crying. He rushed to the circle and shoved his way through to the center. In the middle of the circle, a lavender pony with both wings and a horn was crying her eyes out over the body of a British soldier, it was clear the soldier was suffering terribly from the effects of the gas. His nose was oozing blood whilst he continued to cough up bile with now coated the ground underneath him. It was clear he had breathed too much gas and would soon asphyxiate as the foul substance filled his lungs with fluid.
"What the hell are you all doing standing there?! What is going on?" Private Kant instantly recognized the straight-faced Sergeant Uller who shoved his way into the center of the circle, he glanced at the terrible scene and visibly paled before Corporal Valk stepped out of the crowd.
"Sergeant, we didn't know what to do with the pony, she has wings and a horn, which seems to signify royalty in this land... and Sergeant, that Tommy is already dead, permission to put him out of his misery." The Sergeant nodded.
"You and you, pull that pony off, careful now, we'll bring her back to the Major." To soldiers bent down and grabbed the purple pony, who struggled and cried out in English, most likely in protest. Though all Kant could discern was pleading, though not for herself."
Private Kant flinched at the crack of the pistol shot. He turned and saw Corporal Valk holstering his Mauser, a smoking hole protruding directly over the heart of the poor Tommy, who now laid still. He also noticed the purple pony's struggles increased violently for a moment before she sank down in apparent defeat. Sergeant Uller spoke first.
"Alright, men from assault group A are to regroup at the shopping plaza, assault group B will make for the-" He trailed off, glancing down at the bayonet embedded in his chest.
"Wha-" was all he could muster before falling like a sack of potatoes. All of the soldiers turned their gaze to the pony, who now had a purple aura surrounding her and any nearby objects, including rifles discarded on the street. Once more she spoke, and though Kant couldn't discern the words, it was clear what she meant, vengeance . Corporal Valk struggled to pull his Mauser back out of its holster as the two soldiers nearest to the pony were flung like ragdolls, flying twenty meters through the air before colliding into nearby buildings and collapsing with a sickening crunch.
"Come on, there's ten of us and one of it, show the equine bastard!' Corporal Valk shouted as he worked the pistol free and aimed it at the pony. For a moment, time stood still.
He fired.
Her aura formed a thick shield and simply absorbed the force of his rounds, other soldiers regained their senses and began firing rapidly at the purple barrier, attempting to destroy it with sheer firepower. Private Kant started backing up. None of the other soldiers noticed the aura expand, encapsulating even more objects, including the machine gun, still mounted on the parapet, which began to slowly swivel around, pointing its muzzle towards the group of German soldiers.
Private Kant started to run.
Bratatatatatatata
One by one the soldiers firing on the purple deity died, mown down by the machine gun. Corporal Valk threw himself to the ground to avoid the wall of death. The firing ceased, the last round in the belt expended, and Valk found himself the last man standing, dazed, he pushed himself to his feet, haphazardly dusted himself off, then faced her.
She came up to no higher than his waist, yet was more intimidating than any British tank. Her aura of death continued to flow through the environment around them, the machine gun now mobile, lazily floating through the air, tracking its target, a fresh belt loaded. Her eyes were bloodshot, comically large and vacant of tears, they were, however, filled to the brim with unbridled rage, and as she advanced, it occurred to Valk that he might have to defend himself.
He disposed of his now empty pistol and drew a long and sharp knife, he grinned savagely, this would do , he thought. As the purple demon got within arms reach, he made his move, with one sharp thrust, he launched into the attack aiming for her neck. However, to his horror, he realized his knife had ceased movement as soon as it touched her damnable aura, and now she grinned savagely.
Scores of bayonets from his fallen comrades began to float lazily towards him. His fighting options exhausted, he now attempted to beat a hasty retreat, but found his hand glued to his knife, as the purple aura pinning him to his position via control of his clothing, as the bayonets approached from all angles, he heard a single word, which he recognized all too well. Die.
==========
The terrible scream Kant heard only encouraged him to run faster, his rifle still firmly gripped in his hands, he was terrified, and knew that his only option was to hide until the monstrosity forgot about him. He rushed around a corner to be confronted by a large gathering of German troops, NCOs were rounding up soldiers, saying that the Major had personally lead attacks that broke through at the other edge of town, and now it was time for them to follow suit. Kant tried to warn them, but it was too late.
A lavender blur slammed down in front of him, and as the dust cleared, the pony stood, facing away from him. Now unthreatened, he began to observe her more closely. He noticed the mustard gas had affected her too, though she wore a strange looking respirator, her coat was burned to the skin in some areas and she was clearly bleeding in several places.
Too late his compatriots realized the danger she presented and began firing futilely at her shield. She once more called upon the discarded weapons of fallen soldiers to fight for her, and like a sorceress, she guided them to cut down his allies, his friends, his brothers in arms. Kant took notice that the purple barrier, while seemingly impenetrable, only covered her front, and with surprising resolve, Kant took a kneeling position, raised his rifle to his shoulder, aim for the heart he thought, and then with surprising smoothness, he pulled the trigger.
Fate was not on his side, the rifle jammed.
Instantly the purple demon turned her attention to him, his friends having long since fled or died. He took note of her maniacal grin and increasingly twitching eyes, he also noticed her gas mask was torn slightly, and finally, he noticed she held a rifle in her magic, and that he was looking straight down the barrel.
Crack.
The round went low, and tore through his abdomen, Kant fell backward and only just kept himself from landing fully on his back, he reversed a few feet until he rested his back on the wall of a street corner shop. He coughed and sputtered, bodily fluids escaping through his horrible wound and his mouth.
He suddenly had the urge for fresh air and tore off his mask, he took a long breath, savoring what very well might be his last. He looked up and saw the purple pony staring at him, mere inches from his face, the still smoking gun held above her, she glanced at him curiously, hesitating to shoot. Seeing his chance, Kant adjusted his glasses and spoke.
"Bitte."
==========
"Bitte." Twilight flinched, and she returned to reality. Her magic faded and a dozen objects fell to the floor, discarded. She had just wanted to help James, and when they killed him, she only wanted revenge, to make them pay for murdering him, for taking him away from her. Tears filled her eyes as she gazed on the nameless soldier, once his mask had been removed, she had come to a stark realization.
He looked like James.
This alone would have stopped Twilight's onslaught in its tracks, and was only compounded by the word he spoke, though she could speak his language, based on his tone and situation, it was clearly a plea for mercy. She began to cry. What have I done? She thought.
"I'm so sorry!" She blurted out, though she suspected he couldn't understand her, as her sensory systems returned, she felt like she was suffocating and quickly tore off her mask with her magic.
She looked to the wounded soldier and smiled slightly. He returned the gesture, albeit weakly. Twilight could see the blood oozing out of the soldier's body, and she knew it was her fault. She nearly froze as she realized there was very little she could do for him. She could seal up the wound, but fixing the damage would require an extensive knowledge of his internal systems which she simply did not have the time or equipment to even begin to understand.
The soldier coughed and shifted, reaching into his grey coat. Twilight flinched slightly but relaxed when he pulled out a small wallet. As he tried to open it, his shaking hands lost their grip and the contents spilled into his lap and began to blow away in the wind. He frantically tried to collect his things, hopelessly as they began to float away, there was a problem Twilight could fix.
Within an instant, she collected the various cards and pieces of paper and floated them around her, sitting down in front of the wounded soldier. He observed the many objects anxiously until settling his eyes on one item and sighing visibly. Twilight followed his gaze to a floating item to her right, a picture.
The picture was faded brown and showed a human standing in a beautiful dress, Twilight realized it was a female, judging by her facial and bodily features. On the edge of the picture, there was a single word written in ink, Maria .
Twilight turned her gaze back to the soldier, happy she'd saved such a prized object. His eyes continued the gaze softly at the picture, and he had developed a small happy grin as he watched.
He did not, however, breath.
======
Everything was going to plan. Mostly.
Major Strasser walked nonchalantly down the street as he contemplated his decisions. He hadn't enjoyed the order to load his last artillery shells, which were mustard gas, and fire them down upon the city. His inhibitions were overcome by his desire for revenge, they had forced his hand! At least the Princesses had had the foresight to evacuate civilians and not actively fight against his assault.
He glanced down at the dead, grey-clad and khaki-uniformed soldiers were sprawled across the street. A great many wounded. Those who could walk were being sent to the rear areas, where Captain Wexer had been left in charge of the medical bay, back at the camp. The rest would be carried there after the fighting had moved on. There could be no doubt in victory, the British were horribly outnumbered, outgunned, and with the recent breakthroughs throughout the city, outmaneuvered. It was only a matter of time.
Unless...
The Princesses were the only factor he was concern about, whilst their magic could not effectively damage humans, they clearly could control human-made objects, as demonstrated by what happened to his brother.
Regret. That's what was cutting through Major Strasser, not of attacking the city, but of failing his brother, he could only hope he could earn his brother's forgiveness by defeating these stubborn Englishmen!
"N-news, Sir!" A young private spoke after saluting. He turned to face the private.
"Spit it out, and take off your gas mask, the fumes have thinned out."
"Y-yes, Sir," He said, frantically removing his mask, "I came to r-report that the easternmost f-forces have been effectively destroyed."
What.
"Explain." He said, frowning, how could the British have done this, Sergeant Uller was in charge over there, he's a competent commander.
"I-it was the purple one, P-princess I mean, s-she tore through our ranks and scattered everyone, Sergeant Uller is dead, Sir."
"Hmm," the rules of the game had changed, "alright, send word throughout the platoons, avoid contact with the ponies, but engage their conventional forces if they threaten you, engage this purple one on sight." The power of this Princess was something he had greatly underestimated, and now his men had paid the price.
All the more reason to finish this as quickly as possible.
"Oh, and I'm taking the remaining reserve groups, we're going on a special mission."
==========
It's my fault Twilight thought. She still sat across from the deceased soldier, she thought of his life, his family, and all the things he would have done, had she not killed him, of course.
She realized that her actions had been somewhat justified, he was apart of an army that had put Canterlot under siege, bombed with horrible weapons, and had killed numerous people. Nevertheless, she couldn't shake the guilt, which weighed on her heart.
Suddenly, her ears flicked.
What was that sound.
Until that moment, sounds had been limited by distant gunfire and occasional explosion, she could now hear the thudding of scores of footsteps. She glanced around, she noticed grey-clad soldiers filling the street and advancing towards where she sat. She considered for a moment that she should move, but disregarded the thought, she would stay and protect this soldier from them, to succeed him where she had failed to protect James.
Behind her, scores of British soldiers were hidden, placed in windows, on rooftops, and in the stairways to cellars, unseen to any advancing up the street.
"Give em hell, lads! Fire!" As one, the British soldiers opened fire on the advancing German soldiers, a dozen or so fell almost immediately, the rest taking cover and returning fire.
Bullets whizzed past Twilight, as she tried her best to figure out what exactly was going on, and how to best keep the poor soldier safe, her senses dulled by her state of mind, she hardly noticed a very alive German soldier approach her, and upon seeing the corpse of Private Kant, raising his weapon at her.
"ENOUGH!"
The Royal Canterlot voice pierced through the air as Princess Luna slammed down onto the cobbled road, sending chunks of rock in all directions. Her eyes glowed a piercing white and she had adorned her battle armor. What's more, she carried a massive shimmering blue spear, crackling in her magical aura, floating menacingly beside her.
The shock of her arrival caused a lull in the battle, she had placed herself between Twilight and the German soldier who had raised his weapon against her. Consequently, she had also placed herself between the German and British lines.
"Can you not see the foolishness of this battle! There is nothing for you here but misery and pain! Begone, or we shall send thee screaming to the depths of Tartarus!"
Silence reigned over the battlefield. Soldiers stood practically frozen in their previous positions, each looking to each other for what to do, no one wanting to make the first decision, lest it be their last.
Finally, the young German soldier who had aimed his rifle at Twilight turned and ran. One by one, the Germans began to fall back, first at a brisk walk, then to a run, finally, to a full sprint back down the streets they had paid so dearly to conquer.
It was a rout.
The nearby British soldiers began cheering and whooping as they left their defenses and swarmed around Princess Luna, who beamed and asked for no thanks. A soldier asked her what came next.
"What comes next, brave warrior, is the capitulation of our enemy, onwards, to final victory!" The men cheered and followed as the Princes of the Night led them down the streets of her city, towards the gates, and finally to the German camp, to demand there surrender from a very shaken medical Captain.
Twilight continued to guard the poor soldier's body.
======
She'd done it!
Celestia had thought she'd heard of the sort of spell required to return Captain Williams and his men to their homeland. She'd crawled through her near endless notes, diaries she had written throughout the centuries in a futile attempt to keep track of the endless events that passed her by in millennia of rulership.
It was through this that she had discovered a time travel spell. She suspected an anomaly of some sort had allowed Williams and his men to be transported into Equestria. If she could simply roll back time, the anomaly would probably not even occur, and if it did, she would know in advance what was coming. It was foolproof!
At least, the sleep deprived and ever-so-slightly desperate Celestia thought it was. Though she had spent a great deal of time refining the spell to the scale required. She grabbed her notes in her magical aura and trotted towards the doorway of her studies, she heard voices outside, she smiled as she recognized Williams, she could tell him right away and end this madness.
Crack.
Bang.
Crack.
Her heart dropped as three shots were fired in quick succession. She galloped forward and threw open the doors and observed the room. Williams was leaning on a stone pillar for support, his revolver in his hand. He had clearly been shot at least once and was coughing violently.
"Captain Williams!" He turned towards her and smiled.
"S'okay Princess, it missed my important bits." He tried to push away from the pillar but slipped and fell to the ground.
Celestia glanced around the room quickly and noticed it was empty save her and her wounded friend.
"What happened?" She asked as he pulled a small bandage out of his breast pocket, grunting as he bandaged himself.
"That damned Major, he somehow slipped through the defenses. I confronted him outside your door, he drew his sidearm, I drew mine, and we fired. I think I got the best of him though. He fled through that hallway over there." He said as he motioned to the hallway in question.
"There are too many innocent ponies in this castle, I'm going to find him and stop him, once and for all," Celestia said with a look of determination, perhaps he would listen to reason now that she had a way for him to go home.
"Let me come with you." The Captain said as he attempted to push himself up, Celestia caught him just before he fell, and gently lowered him back to the ground.
"No, you can hardly move, stay here and rest, I will send medical personnel to tend to you as soon as I can." Leaving him no time to argue with her, Celestia began trotting down the hallway previously marked by Captain Williams. She soon spotted blood splattered on the marble floors of the castle, they were also smeared across a large wooden door present just a few meters down the hallway, Celestia knew it well.
She approached the entrance to the Canterlot Royal gardens cautiously, creeping just close enough to peer through the now open door. She almost smiled as she viewed the serene place before her, lush flora, as well as the occasional animal, made the gardens a wonderful relaxation spot. She soon spotted the source of her troubles.
"Major Strasser." She said, pushing through the doorway. The Major looked up at her from where he sat, upon a small stone bench near the middle of the garden, near a large and majestic fountain. He smiled weakly.
"I-it's a very beautiful garden." His voice strained and Celestia noticed there were two grotesque holes in his chest, with blood spilling out in frequent pulsing bursts. The Major saw where she was looking.
"Truth be told, I've been running on adrenaline for a little bit now, if you wish to take revenge, you'll have to make it quick, I'm afraid." He said.
"Revenge?" Celestia said, baffled, how could he not see she'd tried everything in her power to prevent violence, not pursue it!
"Well, I've always wanted to die on my feet," he said as he pushed himself to his feet, "go on, your fellow Princess did a number on my men, though they provided a necessary distraction for my infiltration, but that damned Captain had to in just the right spot to intercept me, by chance I assume." The Major faced her, his arms spread wide. "Well, go ahead, take your victory!"
Princess Celestia nearly gasped as she viewed the full extent of his injuries, she could see one of his lungs through the ragged hole in his chest, and through the other she could see his intestines, which were cut and oozing out their own foul pus. She could clearly see he had been mortally hit. She thought over his statement, should she kill him? She now had the chance to avenge all those he had caused to die with his warmongering. I could avenge Luna's loss.
"No." The Major visibly sagged as she spoke the word. His legs buckled and he sank to his knees. Gone was his grin, replaced with an amused look.
"You have principles Princess, I'll give you that. However," He grunted as he straightened out, still on his knees, "I feel that instead of arguing with you, or justifying myself, I'll simply force your hand."
He pulled his pistol out of its holster and pointed it directly at Celestia.
She charged her spell.
He fired.
Impossible. He thought as he watched his bullet stop and float in the air, about a meter from Celestia, who had stopped it with a wave of magic, it fell to the ground as she ended the spell, and she began advancing on the Major.
He fired again, and again, and again, but no round would get any closer to the Sun Princess before coming to an abrupt halt and falling to the garden floor below. He briefly considered falling back as she got closer, but decided he would live or die where he was, truth be told, he was tired and just wanted the chaos to end. His weapon clicked as it ran out of ammunition, and he let it fall from his hand as Celestia reached him. He closed his eyes.
"I wanted to save you." His eyes shot open as he viewed the alicorn, there were tears in her eyes.
"W-what." Was all he could muster. She sighed.
"I've seen too much war, I've killed and gotten too many souls killed. All I wanted was for you to see the error of your ways, I've found a spell to revert time, when cast, it should return all those back to where they were sometime in the past, at an event that was anchored in time. I don't know if those who have died will return, or if they will remain lost in their world as well. This entire endeavor of yours was pointless, and all those who've died, yours or theirs, died in vain. What possible reason could you have had for doing what you did, YOU'VE DESTROYED SO MANY LIVES, HURT SO MANY SOULS, WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE? MONSTER!"
Seldom did grief or anger cause Celestia to use the Royal Canterlot voice, but this was one such occasion, she thought of her sister, so enamored with the poor Sergeant Stalber, and the destruction of their relationship. She thought of the destruction of her home, and of the lives ruined with the crack of every rifle shot. The Major's face was blank, he stared off past Celestia, gazing at something no one else could see. Finally, he spoke.
"I-im not sure, I-I-I-" He trailed off as his body collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. He continued to move his mouth as if to speak but made no sound. Then, his body went still, and he thought no more.
Sighing, Celestia stepped past him and made her way through the gardens, she made her way past exotic plants and animals, and arrived at the edge, the outer side of the garden was a massive balcony over the entirety of Canterlot, she saw some streets red with blood, others torn to pieces by explosive shells, she saw grey and khaki-clad soldiers lying piled throughout the streets, and began to cast the ancient, forgotten spell. She knew it would reach into the near past and revert to a point in history which was always destined to happen.
She hoped that whatever anomaly which drew these soldiers to Equestria would not reoccur, and hoped they'd find peace in the hell that was their world.
Magic swirled around her as she continued to funnel more and more raw energy into the spell. Her notes specified that nothing inside an unspecified radius of her would change, and ponies within the radius would retain their memories, this meant even if the anomaly sent Captain Williams and his men seeking refuge once again, she'd know in advance what to do to prevent this massacre.
She felt the energy build to a breaking point as she was raised into the air by the spell, she prayed to Faust that it would work, and then with a grunt, released the energy, activating the spell.
She was instantly blinded by a pure white light, one even more powerful than that of the sun, and felt herself being tossed through limbo, and back again into the living world. She barely caught herself as she fell back down to the ground. She was still in the Royal Gardens, which was to be expected, and a cursory glance towards the city below relieved a great tension.
It had worked. No more were the streets of Canterlot filled with the bodies of soldiers, no more blood flowed down the gutters. She sighed in relief.
"Sister, we've been looking for you everywhere, why did you disappear from the c- ASSASSIN!"
Celestia spun around just as Luna fired a powerful spell at a very much alive Major, she saw the fear and confusion in his eyes, the fear of going to and from limbo, while Luna merely saw the weapons in his hands. If Luna used a freezing spell again spell, it would dissipate upon contact with the Major and she could stop this, prevent just one more death.
Her sister, fearing for Celestia's life, had not used a common spell, she'd summoned herself a spear made of pure mana and launched it at the Major at impossible speeds. He jerked violently as it pierced his chest. It continued straight through and dissipated as it began exiting through his back. He grunted and fell over, and tried to raise himself in vain.
"No! Not again!" Celestia cried as she raced over to him, trying in vain to plug his gaping wound. It was a futile gesture, as no sooner than her magic attempted to seal the hole, it dissipated and more blood began to ooze out. The Major had already fallen into unconsciousness and would soon die, again.
"Sister, why do you care so much for this villain, I saw him sneaking up behind you with a sword... and this strange metal device." Celestia realized her sister had no memory of the last few days, proving her theory on the use of the spell. She knew by the time that any medical ponies could arrive he would already be dead. Celestia also noticed that besides his pistol, he had drawn a long and ornate sword from its sheath on his approach behind her. She turned to Luna.
"I have so many things to tell you, dear sister, but first, what day is it?"
Author's Note
And so it ends...
or does it?
Thanks to all those who've managed to get this far. Thanks for putting up with my first time writing.
Peace, for the most part, has returned to Equestria, and the broken pieces of the world have been set back into their places This is, however, not necessarily the end of our story. There will be a sequel, of sorts , continued in a more traditional HiE format, it will also be significantly longer, one day, I suppose.
Cheers,
-Lesser Grammar
Ps: Sorry to those with proper Irish accents, as the one I created for Walton was basically borne out of the purest stereotypes.
